This book provides global perspectives on the policy challenges facing family law and policy round the world. This advanced level reference work will be essential reading for students, researchers and scholars of family law and social policy as well as policy makers in the field.

Table of Contents

• Contributors
• Preface
• PART ONE Marriage and alternative relationships
• 1.1 The changing face of marriage Marsha Garrison
• 1.2 Marriage and alternative status relationships in the Netherlands Wendy Schrama
• 1.3 The recognition of religious and customary marriages and non-marital domestic partnerships in South Africa Waheeda Amien
• 1.4 Family, same-sex unions and the law Mark Strasser
• 1.5 Unmarried cohabitation Elaine E. Sutherland
• PART TWO Dissolution of status, death and their consequences
• 2.1 Dissolution of marriage in westernised countries Masha Antokolskaia
• 2.2 Divorce trends and patterns: an overview Tony Fahey
• 2.3 Divorce procedure in China Chen Wei and Lei Shi
• 2.4 Dissolution of marriage in Japan Satoshi Minamikata
• 2.5 Relaxation and dissolution of marriage in Latin America Nicolás Espejo-Yaksic and Fabiola Lathrop-Gómez
• 2.6 The legal consequences of dissolution: property and financial support between spouses Joanna Miles and Jens M. Scherpe
• 2.7 Child support, spousal support and the turn to guidelines Carol Rogerson
• 2.8 Inheritance and death: legal strategies in the United States, England and France Ray D. Madoff and Pierre-Alain Conil
• PART THREE Parenting and parenthood
• 3.1 Assisted conception and surrogacy in the UK Emily Jackson
• 3.2 Regulation of assisted reproductive technology and surrogacy in Australia Isabel Karpin and Jenni Millbank
• 3.3 Parenting issues after separation: developments in common law countries Belinda Fehlberg and Bruce Smyth, with Liz Trinder
• 3.4 Parenting issues after separation in Spain and Southern Europe Teresa Picontó-Novales
• 3.5 Parenting issues after separation: a Scandinavian perspective Anna Singer
• PART FOUR Child welfare, child protection and children's rights
• 4.1 Child welfare and child protection policy in England and Wales Karen Broadhurst and Judith Harwin
• 4.2 Child protection: promoting permanency without adoption Allan Cooke
• 4.3 Adoption of children in the United States and England and Wales Sanford N. Katz and John Eekelaar
• 4.4 The moral basis of children's relational rights James G. Dwyer
• 4.5 Children's rights and parental authority: African perspectives Julia Sloth-Nielsen
• 4.6 Children's rights: the wider context John Eekelaar and Rob George
• PART FIVE Discrimination and personal safety
• 5.1 Gender discrimination and the right to family life Fareda Banda
• 5.2 Domestic violence: a UK perspective Rosemary Hunter
• PART SIX The role of the state and its institutions
• 6.1 State support for families in Europe: a comparative overview Kirsten Scheiwe
• 6.2 State support for families in the United States Maxine Eichner
• 6.3 Law and policy concerning older people Jonathan Herring
• 6.4 Support and care among family members and state provision for the elderly in Japan Emiko Kubono
• 6.5 Institutional mechanisms: courts, lawyers and others Mavis Maclean and John Eekelaar
• PART SEVEN Globalisation and pluralism
• 7.1 International child abduction, intercountry adoption and international commercial surrogacy Mark Henaghan and Ruth Ballantyne
• 7.2 Children in cross-border situations: relocation, the Hague Convention on Child Protection 1996 and the Brussels IIbis Regulation 2003 Rob George
• 7.3 Family migration from a UK perspective Helen Stalford
• 7.4 Family law in diverse societies Maleiha Malik